Centex’s Salsa Vault (post yours here too if ya want)

caliking

I usually end up making some kind of salsa verde, so wanted to change things up. I’m calling this Salsa Carbonizado, because some of the chiles roasted a bit longer than intended

Chiles
Ancho 2-3
Guajillo 2-3
Pasilla 2-2
Some kind of New Mexico chile 2-3
(Pequin chiles would have been good in this, but I didn’t have any).

Tomatoes 12 (I used Campari, which are about golf ball-size).

Limes, juiced 2

Vinegar 1 TBSP

Sugar  1 tsp 

Garlic, salt, and pepper per taste.

- roast chiles until aromatic, and starting to blacken. 

- soak in boiling hot water, until soft. 

- roast tomatoes, garlic, and onion, until you see some char. 

- take the stems off the chiles, and pulse a few times in a food pro. Add 1/2 cup of the chile water, or more if you want a thinner salsa. 

- toss the rest in,  and blitz it. 

It’s not blazing hot. Has a warm, earthy, robust flavor, and the color is beautiful! 

You could add 1-2 habaneros (or more) if you want to kick up the heat.

Botch

Huh.  Never heard of soaking fresh chilis after roasting them; I've always just covered them and let them steam under their own heat.  

Dawgtired

This is my favorite one from KBC…
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
1 7oz can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1/2 C chopped red onion
1/4 C chopped fresh jalapeños
1/4 C chopped cilantro
1/4 C red wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves
1 T salt
1 t smoked paprika 
Puree everything in a food processor. This one is both very easy and very, very, good!

caliking

Botch said:

Huh.  Never heard of soaking fresh chilis after roasting them; I've always just covered them and let them steam under their own heat.  

Oops... forgot to say that all of the chiles were dried. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

caliking said:

I usually end up making some kind of salsa verde, so wanted to change things up. I’m calling this Salsa Carbonizado, because some of the chiles roasted a bit longer than intended

Chiles
Ancho 2-3
Guajillo 2-3
Pasilla 2-2
Some kind of New Mexico chile 2-3
(Pequin chiles would have been good in this, but I didn’t have any).

Tomatoes 12 (I used Campari, which are about golf ball-size).

Limes, juiced 2

Vinegar 1 TBSP

Sugar  1 tsp 

Garlic, salt, and pepper per taste.

- roast chiles until aromatic, and starting to blacken. 

- soak in boiling hot water, until soft. 

- roast tomatoes, garlic, and onion, until you see some char. 

- take the stems off the chiles, and pulse a few times in a food pro. Add 1/2 cup of the chile water, or more if you want a thinner salsa. 

- toss the rest in,  and blitz it. 

It’s not blazing hot. Has a warm, earthy, robust flavor, and the color is beautiful! 

You could add 1-2 habaneros (or more) if you want to kick up the heat.

Oh man that looks amazing. Campari are the best fresh tomatoes out there these days. Grown in Marfa TX- Out by Big Bend. 

caliking

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

caliking said:

I usually end up making some kind of salsa verde, so wanted to change things up. I’m calling this Salsa Carbonizado, because some of the chiles roasted a bit longer than intended

Chiles
Ancho 2-3
Guajillo 2-3
Pasilla 2-2
Some kind of New Mexico chile 2-3
(Pequin chiles would have been good in this, but I didn’t have any).

Tomatoes 12 (I used Campari, which are about golf ball-size).

Limes, juiced 2

Vinegar 1 TBSP

Sugar  1 tsp 

Garlic, salt, and pepper per taste.

- roast chiles until aromatic, and starting to blacken. 

- soak in boiling hot water, until soft. 

- roast tomatoes, garlic, and onion, until you see some char. 

- take the stems off the chiles, and pulse a few times in a food pro. Add 1/2 cup of the chile water, or more if you want a thinner salsa. 

- toss the rest in,  and blitz it. 

It’s not blazing hot. Has a warm, earthy, robust flavor, and the color is beautiful! 

You could add 1-2 habaneros (or more) if you want to kick up the heat.

Oh man that looks amazing. Campari are the best fresh tomatoes out there these days. Grown in Marfa TX- Out by Big Bend. 

They’re my favorite. Found them a couple of years ago, and the best of the store tomatoes IMO. caliqueen has been growing all kinds of heirloom tomatoes, but it’s criminal to use them for anything that involves blitzing then until unrecognizable. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

The Green Menace

1 lb Tomatillo
2-4 jalapeno or 1-2 habanero
4-5 cloves of garlic
big pinch of salt
tsp cumin
tsp+ Oakridge Habanero Death Dust

char up the veg, add to blender with other ingredients and give it a spin. 

Made a batch this week to eat with Christmas morning tamales for breakfast.spicy AF and delicious. 

TideEggHead

Bumpppp. Making some tomorrow for the game Sunday!

NDG

Salsa 💃 always a good bump 

Elijah

Made the first salsa again. It was great. Not trying to spend anyone's money, but I used a manual food processor. OXO Good Grips One Stop Chop Manual Food Processor https://a.co/d/ir3IOrH

It wasn't that one, but you get the idea. It let me keep the salsa rather chunky and I was able to dial in the taste without over processing 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Salsa Molcajeté Roja y verde

TFJ got some heirloom masa, a cookbook, and a new molcajeté for dia de La  Madré a few weeks ago. We have been making salsa, guacamole, and tortillas every few days since. Tonight is no different. Here are the Salas:

Roja;

4-5 medium very ripe tomatoes
1 Serrano pepper
3 cloves of garlic (in paper)
2 1/4” slices of white onion
lime
cilantro
salt

broil tomato, onion, Serrano, garlic until black on top then flip and char the other side. Tomatoes take about 6-7 minutes to char up. Garlic and Serrano less time- keep an eye on them and pull when charred and soft. 

1-remove skin from garlic and crush garlic and Serrano together in molcajeté to make a paste
2- remove skin from tomatoes (should fall off at this point). if tomatoes are large, cut in quarters then crush in with the garlic Serrano paste
3- dice onions very small and stir in (do not crush)
4- very fine chiffonade some cilantro and add to taste (start with a TBSP and add more to taste
6- add juice of 1/2 lime
7-add salt to taste (start with tsp and build from there)

The Paste:

the Rick Bayless video for the Roja

https://youtu.be/bC85E00qgVs

Salsa Verde:

1lb tomatillos
2 1/4” slices of white onion 
2 Serrano peppers
Juice of 1/2 lime
3 cloves garlic in paper
salt

cut tomatillos in half and place flat side down on a baking sheet with Serrano, onion, and garlic. Broil until tomatillos are black on top and garlic/Serrano are dark and soft. Get some char on both sides of the onion too. 

1-remove paper from garlic and smash garlic/Serrano into a paste
2- crush in tomatillo. It’s easier to crush them if the molcajeté is not too full of liquid so if you need to crush half and them pour that out to crush the second half, that’s fine. I had to do that on this batch. Just blend it all back in when you are done crushing
3-cut onions in half and dice them very small. Stir them in (do not crush)
4-squeeze in juice of 1/2 lime
5- tiny chiffonade on some cilantro (roughly TBSP) and stir in (do not crush)
6-salt to taste (start with tsp and add more to taste if needed)

Loving la vida molcajete! So much fun and it makes a huge difference in flavor. According to Kenji, that is because crushing actually crushes all the cell walls and releases every bit of flavor. You can't get that with slicing, even really fast with a food processor or blender. Whatever it is, I'm sold. Best salsas I have every made. More to come.

Botch

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Loving la vida molcajete! So much fun and it makes a huge difference in flavor. According to Kenji, that is because crushing actually crushes all the cell walls and releases every bit of flavor. You can't get that with slicing, even really fast with a food processor or blender. Whatever it is, I'm sold. Best salsas I have every made. More to come.

Question for you:
I have/use a small marble mortar/pestle, and have been intrigued by the larger lava-rock molcajetés.  I understand their coarse surfaces do an excellent job of crushing any plant cells, but doesn't that make them harder to clean, short of using a wire brush or pressure washer?  

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Botch said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Loving la vida molcajete! So much fun and it makes a huge difference in flavor. According to Kenji, that is because crushing actually crushes all the cell walls and releases every bit of flavor. You can't get that with slicing, even really fast with a food processor or blender. Whatever it is, I'm sold. Best salsas I have every made. More to come.

Question for you:
I have/use a small marble mortar/pestle, and have been intrigued by the larger lava-rock molcajetés.  I understand their coarse surfaces do an excellent job of crushing any plant cells, but doesn't that make them harder to clean, short of using a wire brush or pressure washer?  

super easy to clean. You grind down rice and salt in there several times (rinse repeat) and it smooths out the insides a little. Takes about 15-20 mintues. When the rice stays white (as opposed to turning gray) it's ready to use. Just spray out with the sink sprayer and you are good to go.

NDG

love this post . .  I am growing tomatillos this year, hoping for a good harvest bc I love them in salsa !

fishlessman

Botch said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Loving la vida molcajete! So much fun and it makes a huge difference in flavor. According to Kenji, that is because crushing actually crushes all the cell walls and releases every bit of flavor. You can't get that with slicing, even really fast with a food processor or blender. Whatever it is, I'm sold. Best salsas I have every made. More to come.

Question for you:
I have/use a small marble mortar/pestle, and have been intrigued by the larger lava-rock molcajetés.  I understand their coarse surfaces do an excellent job of crushing any plant cells, but doesn't that make them harder to clean, short of using a wire brush or pressure washer?  

easy to just rinse clean. buy the biggest you can find. better for grinding spices than the marble type, i have both and just use the marble one for melting cheese type dips now

The Cen-Tex Smoker

NDG said:

love this post . .  I am growing tomatillos this year, hoping for a good harvest bc I love them in salsa !

Me too! I’m team green when it comes to salsa these days. 

BUFFALOMOOSE

Crushing it @The Cen-Tex Smoker

The Cen-Tex Smoker

BUFFALOMOOSE said:

Crushing it @The Cen-Tex Smoker

Literally crushing it ha ha. 

NDG

Just what I had bc herb garden finally producing nice cilantro etc - no recipe to share - hardest part is waiting for it to chill

NDG

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

NDG said:

love this post . .  I am growing tomatillos this year, hoping for a good harvest bc I love them in salsa !

Me too! I’m team green when it comes to salsa these days. 

My tomatillo plants are super lanky like this, not sure it’s good . . @The Cen-Tex Smoker how yours looking ??

Elijah

Bump. The first recipe is legit for a restaurant replacement. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

NDG said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

NDG said:

love this post . .  I am growing tomatillos this year, hoping for a good harvest bc I love them in salsa !

Me too! I’m team green when it comes to salsa these days. 

My tomatillo plants are super lanky like this, not sure it’s good . . @The Cen-Tex Smoker how yours looking ??

We don’t have a garden in this year. Glad we didn’t. It’s been 105+ with no rain for months down here all summer. We have bought our tomatillos this year. 

Botch

NDG said:
My tomatillo plants are super lanky like this, not sure it’s good . . @The Cen-Tex Smoker how yours looking ??

For years, trying to grow basil in a pot, I'd use the bottom leaves for cooking, leaving the "new" leaves to mature a bit.  Saw a couple videos, started trimming off the tops instead, and suddenly my basil "fleshed out" at the bottom, and now my herbs look pretty damn good (plus I'm cooking with the fresh stuff).  
You might try that (take it with a grain of salt, I'm still in the "brown thumb" club...).  

johnmitchell

I had no luck with growing tomatoes this year. I had fantastic upward foliage(growth) but no tomatoes. I have been told I was feeding them too much nitrogen. So next year I will cut back on the fertilizer. Not sure if maybe you have the same issue @NDG

NDG

@johnmitchell yea no luck, tons and tons of empty husks(bad pic).  I read up on it and learned you they can’t self pollinate, so you really can’t expect much with a solo plant.  Bummer.  Next year I will try 3 plants and see what happens.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Elijah said:

Bump. The first recipe is legit for a restaurant replacement. 

That is exactly what it is. A version of that salsa is on the table of hundreds of Mexican restaurants in Texas. I would consider it “San Antonio”style but it’s ubiquitous around the whole state. All of them used canned tomatoes so the salsa tastes the same all year round. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

20stone said:

Foghorn said:

20stone said:

@The Cen-Tex Smoker, nice work starting this thread.  Salsa is definitely a "why would I ever buy this again" item, and it's great having this as a ready resource.

I need tacos

@20stone, are you headed to Bill Miller?  I've heard that homemade salsa goes great on their tacos.  I won't reveal the source.

Life saving hero ER doc or not, the minute this quarantine lifts you better have your head on a swivel, MF, 'cause, just because that was a jest-troll doesn't mean I'm not blinded by rage and plotting revenge.

This will never not be funny to me. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

20stone said:

Foghorn said:

20stone said:

@The Cen-Tex Smoker, nice work starting this thread.  Salsa is definitely a "why would I ever buy this again" item, and it's great having this as a ready resource.

I need tacos

@20stone, are you headed to Bill Miller?  I've heard that homemade salsa goes great on their tacos.  I won't reveal the source.

Life saving hero ER doc or not, the minute this quarantine lifts you better have your head on a swivel, MF, 'cause, just because that was a jest-troll doesn't mean I'm not blinded by rage and plotting revenge.

This will never not be funny to me. 

Elijah

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Elijah said:

Bump. The first recipe is legit for a restaurant replacement. 

That is exactly what it is. A version of that salsa is on the table of hundreds of Mexican restaurants in Texas. I would consider it “San Antonio”style but it’s ubiquitous around the whole state. All of them used canned tomatoes so the salsa tastes the same all year round. 

Same in South Carolina. The only difference I can tell is how finely they chop the cilantro. 

NDG

Got my Molcajeté for Christmas, pulled this post & copied @The Cen-Tex Smoker post above . . Salsa was out of this world, tortillas tasty too !!